The Song of Ayeka
by Mike Fenton
Summary: A poetic reinterpretation of episode 3.



    Author: Mike Fenton
    Title: THE SONG OF AYEKA
    Notes: Misc., Narrative Poem
    Summary: A poetic telling of Ayeka's transformation.
    

[Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC, Inc. and was created by Masaki Kajishima. This work is strictly intended to be apocryphal, and should in no way be construed otherwise. This poem is a reinterpretation of episode 3 ("Hello Ryo-Ohki!").]

  
The Song of Ayeka   
"I see you in my dreams..."  
  
No nightly sleep could ever contain  
So much as a single stalk of grain  
Let alone a field of golden ryes  
That could dance under many angry skies  
  
Nor mellow moon with soft sad light  
Bring helpless sighs to this calm night  
No bright shining heroes could drive away  
What sways at night as easily as day  
  
And if the day would welcome joy  
To the eyes of any sweet girl or boy  
Then how much more the lowly shade  
Should dance in the shadows of this glade  
  
And if a villain disturb this time  
Then bells the size of planets chime  
And awake the guardians whose fierce aspect  
Any dread villain should rightly respect  
  
For here sits one whose crowned head  
Says the same as another lying in bed  
Her pillow the thought of a future crown  
Secure in the hope of ordained renown  
  
And here she sits weaving another  
For one she will never have to love her  
Though custom had commanded it so  
And fate dictate to the stars she go  
  
But first her fate awaits her growing  
And breathless she awaits her knowing  
And perhaps it was some of fate's pity  
That she happened onto this curiosity  
  
A little flower with dark red petals  
As dark as red blood on sharpened metals  
Yet in a way seemed satisfied  
Like only the part that showed had died  
  
But now no villain invades this scene  
To strike with any murderous spleen  
Just a young man that calls her name  
And her to him runs in spite of shame  
  
And just short of folly she bids him  
To wear a crown no decree forbids him  
So he gracefully kneels and accepts coronation  
Though only his humor receives approbation  
  
And though finding his humor now amused  
He found his heart was sorely confused  
To learn that his leaving had made her sad  
Though she should have rightly been mad  
  
To be forced to wed one already so close  
Should itself make a girl bitter and morose  
Yet she seemed innocent and even naive  
While he longed only for some reprieve  
  
Then all was made clear from Ayeka's own wit  
That with Yosho had all her hopes been knit  
And he'd to her say only what was fit  
That one day time 'd itself them admit  
  
So offered to hold as proof against time  
She gave him the flower a token sublime  
A flower so suited that it matched his eyes  
Like milk served under cloudy skies  
  
And so that they could jealousy drown  
She cleverly placed it inside his crown  
The plans and promises already made  
The memory now could never fade  
  
Now like a beggar he pleads his cause  
To all the judges of natural laws  
With a look of forlorn that masks his sighs  
And more than with lips he says with eyes  
  
So snow from mountains runs its course  
And nature itself must then use force  
So he yields up the crown to her  
Like payment to an armed intruder  
  
But never meaning to give offense  
He blames the flower's own preference  
A color, he says, that suits sadness  
A flower unfit for fortune's gladness  
  
In life are moments that send us away  
And some that send our feelings astray  
But meaning itself to Ayeka was lost  
And so the thin line was grimly crossed  
  
So no sooner the crown was gone  
Than the line with a certain pirate was drawn  
An omen of fire and smoke and death  
And so much pain you could hardly draw breath  
  
Ryoko the red-eyed devil of fear  
The destroyer of everything one could hold dear  
And if ever a laugh could chill your soul  
Her gaze could boil your body whole  
  
Now Yosho with the sword makes his way  
And Ayeka follows determined to stay  
Within the sound of his quick footsteps  
As close as foul fate for her accepts  
  
And now enclosed within the void  
Of her own dark thoughts she cannot avoid  
She makes her way to Yosho's side  
But his face does not with him coincide  
  
And from the boy's face she cannot hide  
Nor the awkward way that he has to confide  
The death of her beloved Yosho  
The one her love would not let love show  
  
For her grief, he gives her the sword  
Though her grief he could never hope to afford  
Since passion ended before it began  
Her fate proved it had her fortune outran  
  
And caught between fortune and fate  
Between hate for death and the death of hate  
The sword itself is brought to its term  
To grieve for her as fate would confirm  
  
So now she awakes  
And though her body shakes  
And she weeps  
Sasami sleeps  
  
And after a moment of prayerful hope  
Ayeka is left on her lonely slope  
But a look at Sasami gives her peace  
And for a moment the dark thoughts cease  
  
***  
  
"I held you in my hands..."  
  
Looking out at the thoughtful morn  
One could imagine Ayeka torn  
Between doubt of what the boy had said  
And of whether Yosho really was dead  
  
But her heart knew nothing spiteful  
Intended was spoken though frightful  
And Tenchi could not have pretended  
To know how such news her heart had rended  
  
So now there could be only grief  
And nothing here could give her relief  
So she set in her thoughts to leave  
Return to Jurai once means she'd receive  
  
But the ruins of her ship lay in the lake  
That now she could see and hope forsake  
And no one would blame her for weeping  
Though hidden unbearable grief was steeping  
  
No wonder then when she caught sight  
Of the "monster-woman" in this light  
She turned in disgust to bitterly complain  
To any muse caring to hear her explain  
  
This muse however made this exchange  
From her to Ryoko to see something strange  
Or rather unusual for most normal places  
That never see such unusual faces  
  
To wit Ryoko was not given cause  
To hold much respect for physical laws  
When walking she rarely made motion  
That would not in plain terms stir up emotion  
  
Like crossing the surface of simple water  
And nowhere does she even bother  
To cast a ripple or make some splash  
Though sensible people might think it brash  
  
And descending like riding an elevator  
Where no sense of reason could saturate her  
Below the waves she found what awaited her  
Though sanity might have once berated her  
  
But sanity by now was surely drowned  
As Ryoko her precious object found  
A melon-like object purple and round  
That she caressed to see safe and sound  
  
Ayeka to Sasami's care was submitted  
And an unpleasant act she might have committed  
If Sasami were any less pleasant or small  
Than stand around looking annoyed in the hall  
  
But more than stern looks are often needed  
And heavy words are seldom heeded  
Words of wisdom make lofty demands  
Whenever it is chosen to ignore commands  
  
So with her own warnings Sasami chastens  
Though a quick rebuke she merely hastens  
And with it comes Ayeka's reversal  
A word given without thought of rehearsal  
  
For Tenchi Sasami makes her case  
And then for herself lest her wits replace  
A subject for plainness she cannot escape  
And Sasami's own thoughts now take shape  
  
So Ayeka persuaded removes downstairs  
Till Ryoko in her vision squares  
And refuses again to move an inch  
Leaving Sasami again in a pinch  
  
Like a cat on a leash Ayeka resisted  
While Sasami to have her down insisted  
And dragging her gently gradually won  
Though now to find Tenchi vainly spun  
  
***  
  
"I played the fool for you..."  
  
Youth will not rest to sink or spin  
But patiently waits till it can win  
So seeing the object Sasami is caught  
To examine what Ryoko had earlier sought  
  
To look away she would not dare  
Though Ayeka pretended not to care  
Sasami entranced could not be torn  
When Ryoko mentioned it had just been born  
  
Ayeka alerted cannot help but warn  
What the truth could never hope to adorn  
But if truth were known instead of spite  
Ayeka would've never had cause to fight  
  
So Tenchi awakens to morning light  
And is greeted by this bizarre sight  
Of truth and folly in martial embrace  
While eyes confirm a familiar space  
  
And strange though familiar Ayeka pleads  
To give him her thanks for seeing their needs  
And familiar again Tenchi accepts  
While awkwardly checking mental steps  
  
Ryoko amused saw Ayeka confused  
And when asked to wonder Ayeka refused  
But seeing Sasami holding the egg  
Her concern she could not help but beg  
  
Sasami's attention could not be swayed  
Nor demands to beware the egg obeyed  
But happily held the egg and asked  
If then the father could be unmasked  
  
So whispering a name which Sasami blurts  
Ryoko Ayeka's indignation alerts  
And Tenchi's embarrassment fully forms  
In the path of Ayeka's baleful storms  
  
And angrily the path that she suggested  
An unlikely one for him to have tested  
To share with "his" woman a future child  
While even Ryoko would stand beguiled  
  
So now as one too happy to mock  
Or happily give a playful shock  
Ryoko cannot help but start boasting  
While cheeks of Tenchi's begin roasting  
  
And blushes turn painfully twisted  
As he holds what he did not know existed  
And gasps and quakes to see it shakes  
And a rabbit foot from it as it breaks  
  
So now the egg falls and breaks open wide  
And now the head comes up from inside  
A creature like half a rabbit and cat  
That Ryoko picks up and starts to pat  
  
"Ryo-Ohki" she says, as she gently strokes  
A name that from Tenchi's memory evokes  
The spaceship that carried them to this fate  
And Ayeka's distress that would not abate  
  
And reasoned that it from the ship was born  
And thus Ayeka's look of forlorn  
Though her grief she might've once borne  
She reeled to hear Ryoko's scorn  
  
At Tenchi's protest her fury ascended  
Unwilling to let her pride be mended  
And bitterly slapped him on his cheek  
Lest another kind word she let him speak  
  
As fleeing Ayeka bitterly wept  
And might have her fury also kept  
Except that into the old man ran  
And for this she didn't have a plan  
  
But to offer regrets for clumsy meeting  
And clumsily sees her doubts repeating  
For looking upward now she sees  
A color that all of her doubting frees  
  
The red of his eyes so like one other  
A memory no amount of mocking could smother  
Though pain like clouds obscure the sky  
The light of a love will through them fly  
  
But memory is weak when fused with doubt  
And Ayeka's heart cannot let love out  
When faced with a fearsome sky  
Her heart refuses to let her try  
  
And so she excuses herself and leaves  
Firmly thinking as she now believes  
That her pride is gone as well as her hope  
And no one will know her grief's full scope  
  
***  
  
"I searched for you..."  
  
When one is called then one goes  
And feats of skill one often shows  
So Ryo-Ohki does not fail  
As up the sofa she starts to scale  
  
No mysterious words does she say  
Though Sasami will not look away  
As Ryo-Ohki is simply cleaning  
Kindly Sasami next to her leaning  
  
So held in mutual wordless regard  
Mutual affection cannot be barred  
And onto Sasami's shoulders peaks  
Affectionately rubbing Sasami's cheeks  
  
Tenchi's cheek is still in pain  
As Ryoko's vigor begins to wane  
She laughs and mocks Ayeka's grief  
Tenchi disgusted with her is brief  
  
Ryoko weeps and warmly embraces  
The boy whom all of her worry chases  
Driving away her ugliest dread  
When she had awakened from the dead  
  
A mischance perhaps but now a given  
The insult of a single gem forgiven  
The other gems now Tenchi's ward  
That lay embedded within the sword  
  
And happening to grope around  
She asked him where it could be found  
To Ayeka's care he'd had it returned  
And Ryoko raged like a lover spurned  
  
She wept to think that in a wink  
Ayeka could with her energy link  
And staggered backward with genuine frowns  
Like the faces of many tragic clowns  
  
And tragically backs into the old man  
Whose clowning can this scenario span  
With hands he holds and gives her rest  
And intently gropes her by the breast  
  
Once more insulted she fires her fist  
Although revolted she may as well missed  
To see the casual way that he blocked  
And eyes not even with hers were locked  
  
But noticing Ryo-Ohki instead  
Sitting on the top of Sasami's head  
Suspected in jest what it may be  
Ryo-Ohki or Tenchi's baby  
  
And warns him to respect the bother  
Of the child now that he's a father  
Tenchi's denials turn to disgust  
Leaving before he might have fussed  
  
For practice the old man warns once more  
As Tenchi is already out the door  
Sasami to placate him calls out  
But vacated now despair falls out  
  
Then the old man hastens to explain  
That Tenchi holds clowning in disdain  
Like mother like son his wit sleeps  
As Ryo-Ohki from Sasami's head leaps  
  
And into the glass she bumps and spins  
Joining her Sasami a question begins  
And looks out to see Ayeka again  
Hoping perhaps her ship to win  
  
Then Ryo-Ohki goes straight on through  
And Sasami her head on it bumps too  
As Ryoko then destroys the stairs  
And doubtfully at her fist stares  
  
***  
  
"And now you're gone..."  
  
Just as spring awakens trees  
And brings a yearly bitter breeze  
And hillsides bask and melt their snow  
While the rivers into the valleys flow  
  
So now Ayeka awakens her dreams  
That make her memories bitter themes  
And icy resolve in her heart must melt  
To flow in the fire that fate has dealt  
  
And so it goes across her cheeks  
As the spring of realization speaks  
And the hills of her eyes then she covers  
Like a merciful cloud in sunlight hovers  
  
Just as springtime beats its drum  
And then the rains will surely come  
So Ryo-Ohki fresh from the egg  
Sadly rubs on Ayeka's leg  
  
She fearfully dances then smiles to see  
That her attacker was merely Ryo-Ohki  
But annoyed now Ayeka shoos her away  
Though Ryo-Ohki is determined to stay  
  
So now she stays while Ayeka goes  
As Ayeka commanded and as she chose  
And stern rebukes await her following  
Tearful thanks she must keep swallowing  
  
To think that her sorrows must overflow  
While this to such a creature must show  
And despair within must also grow  
She knows and so invites more woe  
  
She now a creature that must hide  
Lest bitter eruptions she abide  
Or to some soul her pain confide  
While storms of sorrow fall inside  
  
Ryo-Ohki with her longs to be  
Though to Ayeka a mystery  
The riddle is why she must flee  
When beset with such a misery  
  
Like lightning Ayeka turns to scold  
And looking again to again behold  
The flower her heart forever must hold  
She takes it to find what fortune has told  
  
There seemed no answer how or why  
To be told by one's own youthful sigh  
That a pretty girl could become a bride  
Then find sweet moments one day chide  
  
And so she cried and again pleaded  
And this time Ryo-Ohki heeded  
But returned with still another flower  
To brighten Ayeka's darkest hour  
  
Her sorrows silenced with her mirth  
And gratefully saw Ryo-Ohki's worth  
A creature whose innocence calmly waits  
And comforts in spite of Ayeka's hates  
  
***  
  
"I see you everywhere..."  
  
Hating to be seen entering or leaving  
Ryoko herself through the floor is weaving  
And searches for the sword in likely places  
Or traces like sheaths or sword-like cases  
  
Finding an image of Yosho instead  
She mused to recall that he was dead  
And thankfully bid him a rude goodbye  
Then briefly forgot that she could fly  
  
When Sasami came looking in the room  
Ryoko felt it would be her doom  
To be seen in such circumstances  
Discretion better than taking chances  
  
Ryoko thus went back through the wall  
As Sasami emerged in from the hall  
And Sasami was left to pause and wonder  
Why everyone else had apparently shunned her  
  
And feeling alone Ayeka complains  
Of a bitter hope she barely maintains  
To Ryo-Ohki content to hear  
Till leading away with a gesturing ear  
  
Then climbing a tree to find her way  
Ayeka overlooks a curious fray  
Tenchi attacking a stick on a line  
With martial arts you rarely combine  
  
A practice sword firmly held  
And feet over jutting logs propelled  
Tenchi attacks and feints and blocks  
While the old man watches on the rocks  
  
And a warning no sooner does he complete  
Than Tenchi instantly loses his feet  
He playing clown and going down  
He spares little time to wear a frown  
  
So the old man helps Tenchi stand  
And with his strokes gives him a hand  
For basic patterns and fighting style  
That can be proven by error or trial  
  
A fitting face for fighting art  
That steals a scene and Ayeka's heart  
To see the pattern her memory knows  
A mirror of moves that reflects Yosho's  
  
And leaning to have a word or two  
She leaned too far and downward flew  
Now Tenchi leans to find a clue  
Earning a bump from an odd follow-through  
  
The strange crashing sound he investigates  
As Ayeka her fate once more castigates  
And being helped stand she earns a fall  
From an injury she cannot help but appall  
  
Looking at her ankle the old man assumed  
The fall from the tree had her ankle contumed  
And wrapped it tightly to stop the blood  
As questions from her began to bud  
  
To Tenchi the old man leaves her care  
And answers with her he neglects to share  
Though she of the old man pardon begs  
And Tenchi is forced to be her legs  
  
The old man slowly dodges their worry  
And leaves too soon though not in a hurry  
So they are left the aftermaths  
Of all Ayeka's troubling paths  
  
And troubling paths in the heavens form  
Bringing clouds and wind and storm  
Making mockery of her pains  
Or of Tenchi's meager gains  
  
As Sasami asks to stop the rains  
And Ryoko stirring then explains  
That this planet lacks that facility  
Then perhaps assesses her ability  
  
Then asked if Sasami was abreast  
Of the place where the sword might rest  
A concession that brought her depression  
That the sword was in Ayeka's possession  
  
***  
  
"I hear your voice..."  
  
Like finding light in the darkest night  
Tenchi and Ayeka find some respite  
From incessant rain's icy fingers  
As the cloud and storm casually lingers  
  
A storage shed entered in an instant  
Its welcome size an intimate constant  
Its dry comforts he gratefully married  
When her to a place to sit he'd carried  
  
His tunic and towel he'd left to dry  
And offering help he'd had to try  
Hesitant though she'd not say why  
But seeing her blush he guessed her shy  
  
So setting another kind of fire  
His stay in the shed he votes to expire  
And stands in the awning of the shed  
His motives he begins to dread  
  
Ayeka's dread was partly reproved  
As elaborate garments she removed  
Then fear returned with sharpened claws  
As a shadow darted on nimble paws  
  
And more than with fear was she impressed  
As the creature landed on her breast  
Her quietude torn apart at the seams  
And Tenchi's by Ayeka's screams  
  
Tenchi returns to ask the matter  
And her to him runs in spite of a latter  
Crippled condition without drugs  
And thankfully she Tenchi hugs  
  
But seeing the newborn creature cry  
He tells Ayeka and she can sigh  
And let her fears then lay to rest  
As she lays her head on Tenchi's chest  
  
But just as rain is never hot  
These two frightened children were not  
Locked in arms and mutual gazes  
Each one woman and man appraises  
  
And nervously each one pulls away  
Tenchi planning to outside stay  
Ayeka then for pity relents  
Or maybe her heart its burden resents  
  
Inviting Tenchi to stay inside  
Her heart she cannot hope to hide  
Nor let the fire within her die  
Or allow herself to always cry  
  
Often thinking people confuse  
The abuses of those they would excuse  
Or misuse their feelings on a friend  
Whose fearful time they mutually spend  
  
Ryoko's friend she'd Tenchi guessed  
Though no one else could be impressed  
To weigh such wildly hasty thoughts  
And help fill the air with random shots  
  
Thoughtful denial Tenchi relates  
His story to hers logic mates  
As he tells of Ryoko's release from the grave  
From deep within a nearby cave  
  
By her brother's work she's not amazed  
Neither is Tenchi the least bit fazed  
Since it'd been told to him in legend  
And there the story had met its end  
  
So Tenchi's thoughts between them span  
And he asked if she had made a plan  
Ayeka reflected that Ryoko sank her  
Her ship of fortune lacked an anchor  
  
But the riddle of Yosho she must solve  
To find him she must sadly resolve  
And surprised to see her openly fret  
He gave her consent he would not forget  
  
To give Ayeka's search free reign  
And himself would all the blame retain  
For undoing terrors once abated  
By whom he knew he was also related  
  
An ancestor he had been so told  
Of Yosho who'd be centuries old  
A tale of woe she begins to spin  
Of a half-brother's love she'd hoped to win  
  
And crown her hands around his ears  
So now her hands rebuke her tears  
And though her eyes are honor bound  
Despair is where her heart is found  
  
But now he sees and with her pleas  
To see that hope with her agrees  
As her his fate was hard to fare  
And so fate may've thought him to spare  
  
And just as hope began to rise  
Ryo-Ohki pleaded them with her eyes  
And a cat-like meow at once confirmed  
That love for a carrot is not mistermed  
  
***  
  
"You are my light..."  
  
And so the sky has brightened its mood  
And not one cloud dares to intrude  
So Tenchi offers Ayeka a hand  
So they from the shed can disband  
  
Tenchi with Ayeka goes  
Ryo-Ohki with her carrots follows  
And stop to alter their migration  
Finding a suitable destination  
  
A tree that reaches above outline  
The holy tree of Masaki shrine  
That Tenchi explains has strange gifts  
Is where Ayeka's attention shifts  
  
In its shade they stand and cool  
The tree embraced by a shallow pool  
And led up to by a path of stones  
A belt of stories its trunk enthrones  
  
There at the tree Ayeka is sure  
And doubts can no longer her deter  
The spaceship tree so much like her own  
That in the earth now had grown  
  
But even now it still had power  
That from its boughs began to shower  
Rainbows of light fell all around them  
And eerily reflections surrounded them  
  
For Tenchi a strange new mystery  
That Ayeka explains is the ship's memory  
Reflections of light that pulse and revolve  
And into images like dreams resolve  
  
***  
  
"And you found me..."  
  
No creature of night could ever outrun  
The reluctant Juraian emperor's son  
So saw they now as one who stands  
As one with a view of space commands  
  
No glowing red ships of hateful dread  
Could from his vengeful hand had fled  
Nor spared themselves an ugly fate  
That only for itself need wait  
  
And fate would do nothing if not rule  
To make the worst doom seem less cruel  
And so bring justice bitter and sweet  
Making this dance of misery complete  
  
So Ryoko in her spaceship flew  
As Yosho strove to her pursue  
The one with a steely bitter will  
The other with only a need to kill  
  
Like a bird of prey Ryoko descends  
With anyone's image of a villain contends  
And then like a Harpy she appears  
The object of any sane man's fears  
  
The Earth in their sights starts to grow  
As fingers of death around her flow  
Smoke from her craft begins to billow  
And ground explodes from the force of its blow  
  
Against her Yosho bravely fights  
And soon he has her in his sights  
With the sword he ventures all his might  
To end this monster's mission of blight  
  
But though he leads he bleeds  
Till the gem from her proceeds  
And into the hilt joins the other two  
Then there is nothing Ryoko can do  
  
One life is ended for others rent  
Another one's energies nearly spent  
And far more left to be redone  
But not by the emperor's only son  
  
***  
  
"So once again I leave you."  
  
Now the ripples of water vanished  
The rainbow beams quickly banished  
Reflections returning to sunlit dew  
The world awakens its natural hue  
  
And now Ayeka can rest assured  
The tree proclaims her final word  
Since the tree still lives here  
Then Yosho did not disappear  
  
So renewed she states regrets  
Returns the sword like unpaid debts  
Though Tenchi speaks as one unfit  
Lest he again abet his wit  
  
Befit within his disposition  
Ryo-Ohki makes a welcome addition  
Sasami her usual inquisition  
Ryoko with her ammunition  
  
And seeing Tenchi with the sword  
Makes another merry accord  
But once again is made abhorred  
To learn Ayeka had it restored  
  
Tenchi plays the part of fool  
Ryoko the object of ridicule  
Ayeka decides to play it cool  
Sasami as one's first day of school  
  
THE END  



End file.
